Former New York Judge's Son Jumps To His Death From 16th Floor After Killing Mother With Bedside Lamp

The son of a retired New York State Supreme Court judge allegedly took his own life by jumping from a Manhattan apartment building after fatally beating his mother with a bedside lamp on Tuesday, July 19.

Douglas Solomon, 26, the son of Charles Solomon, a New York Supreme Court judge who retired from the bench in 2017, was found naked and bleeding after jumping 16 floors out of a building on East 79th Street following allegedly thrashing his mother Diane Gallagher, 65, to death at their family home, the Independent reported.

The investigating officers believe that Douglas, who was staying with his parents at the time of the alleged murder-suicide, used a bedside lamp to beat his elderly mother Diane to death. After brutally bludgeoning her to death, Douglas, who didn't have clothes on, climbed through a 16th-story window of the Upper East Side building and jumped to his death, landing in the courtyard of the apartment complex.

When the responding officers reached the scene, they found Douglas lying unresponsive in the courtyard in a pool of blood. Diane was later discovered in a bedroom in their apartment with severe head trauma, Fox News reported.

Douglas reportedly had no prior criminal history and no known psychiatric issues.

Residents of the apartment complex reported that they heard loud screaming before Douglas fell from the 16th floor.

“It was the loudest thud. At first, I thought it was an air conditioning unit,” a resident of the building, who did not want to be named, said.

Another resident said that they heard yelling from the apartment before Douglas’ fall.

“I heard a bunch of voices. I thought it was construction workers arguing,” the resident said. “I thought it was just people angry with each other.”

Meanwhile, a 79-year-old resident, who identified herself as Martine, said she and Diane had been friends for years and that she was heartbroken over her death.

“She’s just one of the most amazing people. Bright, articulate, dancer,” the 79-year-old said.

The officers revealed that an investigation is ongoing and that they are looking Douglas' and his mother’s deaths as an apparent murder-suicide.